Sarma Melngailis: Beauty in Action

You can blame Sarma Melngailis for those green juices and raw kale salads you see all around New York. The i-banker-turned-chef is Manhattan’s raw food queen, presiding over a mini empire that includes Pure Food and Wine (her celebrated restaurant), two offshoot juice bars, and two cookbooks. Her model looks are an easy enough incentive to subscribe to her healthy guidelines, but it’s her refreshingly non-preachy attitude that we love. Melngailis has nothing against cocktails (preferably sake-based) and regularly has (raw) chocolate ice cream for breakfast. Here, she tells us how she gets the glow.

Staying informed is the best motivator. Less healthy food, skincare, and other habits become naturally unappealing when you really understand what they do to your body and the environment.

Rise and shine

I always squeeze a whole organic lemon into a tall glass of filtered water and drink that first thing in the morning. It’s rehydrating, and the lemon helps clean your system. I take MSM tablets with my lemon water. MSM is an organic sulfur compound that is supposed to be great for your skin, hair, and nails.

Ready, set, refresh

I love spraying my face with Simply Divine Botanicals Face the Day Seaweed Serum. It’s perfect for air travel too because it passes the two ounce test. Totally refreshing.

Talking superfoods

I like the less exotic things, like blueberries, that we all know and love. Oh, and I adore goji berries. I feel like those are the original superfood. A doctor was once quoted in Vogue magazine saying goji berries are ‘the ultimate anti-cellulite food.’ Really? I don’t know, but I’ll keep eating them.

Makeup for ever

I love RMS Beauty. Rose Marie (the creator) is a good friend, so I got to see what she went through creating that line. No one has higher standards than her for purity and quality (and Gisele is her client so you know it’s good). The luminizer will always be my favorite of her products, and the un-cover up concealers.

Best of the best

Bee Yummy Skin Food is great for putting at the top of your back, neck and décolletage. If I put oilier body lotion in those areas I might risk getting zitty, but Bee Yummy keeps things clear. Sprout Wellness’s exfoliators are the best. They’re made from really simple ingredients by one of our own out in Brooklyn.

First step to a healthier lifestyle

Read! Read a lot and keep reading. Staying informed is the best motivator. Less healthy food, skincare, and other habits become naturally unappealing when you really understand what they do to your body and the environment. And go easy on yourself — being too strict isn’t healthy either.